(ANALYSIS) New religious movements often form around charismatic sources of authority offering new answers to enduring human questions. What makes AI historically unusual is that the charismatic figure no longer needs to stand on a stage. It no longer needs to establish a church or gather disciples around itself.
Read MoreTwenty-five years after 9/11, American Muslim communities face record levels of anti-Islamic bias, attacks and political hostility. From Michigan’s police partnerships to Texas’s legal battles, mosques are strengthening security and grassroots vigilance, seeking to protect worshippers while preserving spaces of faith, fellowship and belonging.
Read MoreIn Hulu’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” half of the show’s reality TV cast are unceremoniously disinvited from their friend’s baby blessing party. Their alleged transgression? Not being Mormon enough. The episode hits on a larger cultural trend: Mormons appear to have grown less religious, according to a new study.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Remaining believers, committed atheists and the totally indifferent still share the same treacherous roads. They complain about the exact same potholes. So, yes, the Granite State holds the crown for the highest share of atheists in the nation. Yet God still manages to retain a surprisingly active local fan base. In other words, don’t draft the Almighty’s obituary just yet.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Obviously, Baptists pay close attention to baptism statistics, along with trends on church attendance and membership. In a new report, Lifeway dug into Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profile numbers for 2025 and reported that baptisms rose for the fifth consecutive year. Baptist leaders quickly noted another current trend — adults 30 and older represented 33% of all baptisms.
Read MoreA Lifeway Research study of 1,000 evangelical and Black Protestant male churchgoers and 473 men’s ministry leaders highlighted the importance of dedicated men’s ministries.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Israel enters its third year of war on multiple fronts, the question of whether ultra-Orthodox men should be exempt from mandatory military service has become a much larger argument about citizenship itself: Who bears responsibility for defending the Jewish state?
Read MoreBuddhism is experiencing a revival in northern Bangladesh as thousands of Indigenous Oraon people have embraced the faith since the mid-1990s. Supporters see it as a return to an ancient religious heritage, though the movement faces challenges, including a shortage of monks and criticism from some religious leaders.
Read MoreWhat happens in this New Jersey town can have ramifications for the whole country: The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has filed a federal lawsuit against a district, alleging the district unlawfully barred outside volunteers from attending religious student clubs.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Let me start by stating a fact that seems incomprehensible to even type out, but it undergirds almost every single graph that I produce: We don’t actually know the religious composition of the United States with any real precision. I know that sounds bizarre. The truth is that we are relying on a whole bunch of “best guesses” based on sound methodology and replication.
Read MoreAs many dioceses in Europe and North America continue to contend with declining numbers of priests, church leaders in Kenya face the opposite problem. So many young men want to become priests that seminaries have to waitlist applicants, build more dorms and look for spots at seminaries in neighboring countries.
Read MoreAlmost 4 in 5 pastors (78%) and 9 in 10 churchgoers (91%) believe their church is multigenerational, with a good number of active members from all generations, according to Lifeway Research.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religion in the United States “works” differently for Asian Americans compared to African Americans. The average white American doesn’t think about religion the same way, or practice their faith in the same patterns, as Hispanic Americans. Race is a central component of how religion operates in the American context.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I often think of religious traditions as a styrofoam cup. Each of them has a different level of water in them at any given time. However, that volume of water never stays fixed for long, because religious groups operate in a volatile environment with constant pressure to rise or fall.
Read More(ANALYSIS) To believe a lot of the commentary, especially on the right, you would think America is headed, if not already sinking, into a bottomless moral abyss. But a recent report tells a rather different story. If America was on an immoral path, it is now slowly correcting course. Emphasize slowly.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Pentagon needs to define America’s religious categories due to chaplains’ responsibility to handle the spiritual needs of soldiers as effectively as possible. The problem is that Americans’ religious choices are pretty much uncountable.
Read More(ESSAY) At Christian colleges across the nation, a “ring by spring” is a polarizing cultural phenomenon that comes with quirky rituals. There’s the “freshman frenzy,” the “senior scramble” — and on my campus, one infamous ice breaker known as “Awk Walk.” Underneath these traditions is an inescapable anxiety: Will you meet your spouse or graduate single?
Read MorePope Leo, who spent two decades serving the Catholic church in Latin America, is expected to visit the diocese he led before his election in Chiclayo, a city in northwest Peru. Other stops on the 11-day trip include several cities in Uruguay and Argentina, with a full itinerary to be announced closer to the trip.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Disestablishment was not just a cornerstone of American democracy. It was also an engine for the extraordinary growth of philanthropy, which played an important role in fueling American churches’ growth and innovation.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Fewer marriages, fewer believing mothers and fewer traditions carried forward add up to a generation raised inside a custom-built crisis of meaning. America needs religious men. To endure and thrive as a civilization, it may need religious women even more. The reasons aren’t mysterious.
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